I have been fortunate over the past couple of years to build a pallet of presentation material, some fairly mediocre, some with more potential. I am trying to decide what I really want to say, how passionate I am about certain topics, and whether I should stick to the stereotypical topics that may be expected of me (if there is such a thing!). I am also concerned that as a presenter I do not end up saying the same message exactly like someone else...it is important to be on the same playing field as the other presenters and attendees, but it is not necessary to be playing exactly the same game. There is a need for individuality, originality and 'having a unique voice' amongst the wilderness of 21st century learning.

So, having pondered on that, and blogged for 10 minutes now, enough to make it feel like I am continuing to procrastinate with choosing topics for Learning 2.008, here goes some sample ideas, just waiting for your comments and constructive input.

"Footprints on the digital sands of learning - what it means to be an educator in the 21st century"As an educator in the 21st century do you follow digital footprints? Do you leave your own digital footprint? How important is it to have an online presence, a personal learning environment and a virtual network of colleagues? This session will look at starting with baby steps and show how easily these can become confident strides on the digital sands of learning using connectivity and collaboration tools as the keys to success.

"Digiteen and Digiteacher - is your school ready to embrace action for digital citizenship?"Using the recent Digiteen global collaborative project as a catalyst this session explores what it means to be a digital citizen and how your school community can become actively engaged in promoting best practice use of online learning. Forget the fear factor, embrace safe practices and informed pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning online with social networking tools and collaborative websites.

"Mobile, Digital, Ubiquitous = Communicate, Collaborate and Create"You have mobile computing devices in your classroom - now what? This session looks at embedding Web 2.0 pedagogy across the curriculum to support learning while mobile. Gone are the days when a laptop is used mainly as a word processor and research tool for the Internet. The future is here, ubiquitous computing in conjunction with online learning modes encourages communication, collaboration and creativity. It also promotes independence and higher order thinking for problem solving in the classroom. Don't touch that off button!

"How flat is your classroom? Seven steps for successful global collaboration"The flat classroom concept is based on the constructivist principle of a multi-modal learning environment that is student-centered and a level playing field for teacher to student and student to teacher interaction. Based on the experiences of the award winning Flat Classroom Project this session will detail seven essential steps for lowering your classroom walls to promote connection and understanding between geographically dispersed, ethnically and culturally diverse groups of students in meaningful, global cooperative authentic learning experiences.

So over to you, the reader, which session is the most inspiring? Which one can be dropped off the list? What else would you like to hear me talking about as well as, instead of?

8 comments:

I vote for Flat classroom. That topic is hot and you're an expert. If you decide to go the digital footprint route check out my blog and my colleagues' http://tip-theinnovativeparent.blogspot.com. I think we both have some interesting thoughts in that area. I sight Will Richardson in my posts about the topic and have some interesting controversy brewing around the whole sharing of my educator footprint professionally going on too. My colleague started the wikipedia post. Check it out and contribute.

Good luck with the presentations. Which makes me think...if there isn't already, we should set up a space where these sort of materials are collected.

I agree too.The Flat Classrooms Live Session was so brilliant! There are many people who want to learn what you are doing and take part. I just returned from China and things are developing really fast there so that's where you should be!You will have a blast :-)

I have to agree that the Flat Classrooms grabbed me too. This is something that people can adapt to their own classrooms and use. I love going to presentations where I walk away with an idea of something I can actually do in the classroom.

I don't usually go with the flow but in this case I will Julie ... my vote is flat classroom.

While in Riyadh, I used to run a website with grade 5 classes from Peru, Indonesia, South Korea and Washington state. It was a bit cumbersome because it was all done with email. Since moving to Hong Kong I haven't started a project like that again.

I will be presenting at Learning 2.008 as well. My topic is "Just Google It"... using Google apps in the classroom. I'll look forward to meeting your there.Dave Navishttp://dcnavis.edublogs.org/

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